Path of Least Resistance

The seedhead of the Marsh Marigold from the pond is as beautiful as the bright yellow spring flower that comes before it

Having water pouring through a light fitting hanging from the ceiling should be a deeply upsetting and worrying time. Trouble is, been there and got the t-shirt. It's happened before and we lost a ceiling the last time and had all the clearing up and the remedial work which lasted weeks. This time, the leak is confined to coming down through the light fitting as the water, as it always does finds the least path of resistance.

The nice man from the gas company who we have the insurance with was here within 45 minutes and determined that there isn't a pipe burst, but that the source is most likely the seal on the shower tray that's gone and as one of the lads was having a shower, the seal has leaked water. There's just a drip now every ten seconds as the last of the water soaks away from the void between the floors. Another visit tomorrow will determine the final cause and hopefully it will mean the cost of a tube of silicon sealer rather than hundreds of pounds of work.

The weather here is a little up and down with heavy showers, warm sunny weather, cold spells; we've had most kinds of weather this last week except snow, but perhaps shouldn't speak to soon.

Mr Chu's, our Diversity Master Class venue by night with the Humber to the right

Although I am taking a break from work, we held a Diversity Master Class at work at a popular local venue last week with guest speakers designed to help staff realise their potential, to help understand where we as individuals and the organisation can remove the blockages to our development.

On the evening time, the formal work setting was replaced by inviting many people who represent the diverse community to a meet us at a relaxed event with many varieties of ethnic food and entertainment with a view to breaking down some barriers and open up communications and improve relationships. This was a huge success and very well supported.  There were dancers, musicians and comics to entertain for a few hours.

I reviewed the papers today (Sunday) for the local BBC Radio Humberside on their Sunday Brunch programme hosted by the incomparable consummate professional, senior broadcast journalist Andy Comfort. I get there about an hour before the programme is to start to read the papers and lovely producer, the knowledgeable Steve Redgrave makes superb tea. I try not to pick too many serious stories for a Sunday morning; I try to think of myself at home and what I would want to hear so I take a mix of topics bearing in mind the Sunday papers are quite heavy going. 

Today's stories included the Leveson Enquiry into press standards where only a fraction of the issue of phone hacking was examined leading some to the conclusion it was designed solely to attack the media; the Charles Saatchi domestic violence case which some say puts the cause of combating domestic violence back to the dark ages by giving Saatchi a formal caution (rather than prosecution) for alleged domestic violence perpetration; whistle blowing at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in covering up bad practise and weather forecasting and the detrimental effect on tourism in the UK by forecasting a bad summer. The final light hearted story was about being '...as old as you look or as young as you feel.'    

I answered five questions on the weeks news which I hear for the first time live on the programme and today for the first time ever, I got five out of five right! Whooppee!

Mr Cheesy - pruned, repotted and tied up (Monstera deliciosa)

Finally for today, I've just repotted a rescue plant which had been misbehaving (a long story) from a good friend and it's looking a little better, mind you, the rains have now come and I hope it copes okay.  

I've also learned a little about myself today which is never a bad thing (in this case) about some conditioning from the past which affects me today and which I need to address.

Have a great week ahead

Chat soon

Ta-ra.

Ceiling down (and up)

First of all, a warm welcome to the latest follower to these simple musings, to Rachel from Arkansas in the USA. She describes herself as a "happy, proud, spastic, clumsy, blonde, sometimes funny and very unorganized mother to two wonderful kiddos." Her husband is Kevin. He works away from home frequently, so that makes her, she says, "a pseudo-single mom." You can follow her blog here Just Another Day in Paradise which is a celebration of her family life in the 'The Natural State' (of Arkansas).

In the 13 or so years we've been at this house we've had a total of four major water leaks - all in different locations, all sufficient to have us take part of the ceiling down to get at the cause. Only two have been bad enough for the insurance company to have to sort out - fortunately, the latest is not in that category and as we were decorating the room anyway before Christmas, we've carried the relatively minor cost.

The cause? The cowboy plumber who put our bathroom shower in didn't fully seal the cubicle and left a small gap round the door hinge through which water escaped. Eventually after about three years, it was big enough, when the water was directed at a certain location in the cubicle to come through and left the ceiling wet and ruined the ceiling paper.

Just don't need it really - but hey what can you do about it, at least the ceiling is in the computer room and not the main room like the last one. It's small fry compared to what others are suffering in other parts of the UK as we speak. Anyway today the ceiling looks like this - a captivating picture of exquisite composition and depth of meaning:
More rain expected tonight then it seems gale force winds before calming down to quieter showery weather before night time frosts and wintry showers by the weekend. Since losing weight, I've become noticeably more susceptible to the cold so I managed to dig out some thermal gloves and hat, in which, I look very fetching - NOT.

No psychic circle tonight, my mentor's partner has swine flu! So a bit of reading, quiet meditation (because my other half is out) and an early night I think.

Chat soon

Ta-ra.